


A Glimpse of Home

by supercalivirgilistic



Category: Sanders Sides, Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders (Video Blogging RPF) - Fandom
Genre: AU, Abuse, Death, M/M, Violence probs, Zodiac AU, hopefully a multi chapter fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-04-23 11:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14331606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercalivirgilistic/pseuds/supercalivirgilistic
Summary: In this kingdom, your Zodiac is very important. It does not define you, but rather it gives you something more interesting.Your Zodiac sign gives you control over an element.However, the people supporting a so-called thirteenth serpent sign are rising, invading towns and wreaking havoc. These invasions are coming to be known as raids, and many people have already been killed because of them. Ophiuchus is determined to ruin the peace of the kingdom.To keep their home and return to their lives, several people will have to ride up, however reluctantly, and defeat this new evil.





	1. Chapter 1

  "Honestly, Roman!" 

 Roman jerked his gaze up from the booth and fixed his mother with a mock glare. "You simply do not understand, mother-dear, this is a very important decision and I have to make you proud!"

 Roman's mother laughed, but swatted his hand where it was clenched determinedly in the air. "Just pick an apple, hon, we have to get home before dark, and we've still got to cross town to get more cloth, remember?"

  Roman sighed dramatically. "You're seriously crushing my dreams here, Mom." He said merrily, purchasing a couple of apples and thanking the man behind the booth. 

 He threw one to his mother, which she gracefully caught, by use of her element.

 "That's totally cheating." He said. 

 "It's only cheating if you get caught." She said, using the wind to ruffle his hair. 

 "It's times like these that I wish i'd have been an air element."

 Roman's mother shrugged. "You had a 50/50 chance, my son. Guess you'll have to go your entire life knowing you lost the genetic lottery."

 Roman scoffed. "I'll have you know that I got the best genes. A prince has got to slay, and I definitely am."

 Roman's mother rolled her eyes. "You, my son, are so extra."

 Roman made a series of offended noises as he and his mother reached a booth selling the kind of cloth his mother needed for her project. Roman awkwardly stood behind his mother as she made her purchase.

Suddenly, however, his attention was caught by commotion on the other side of the square. People who had been standing and chatting happily were now hurriedly walking in the opposite direction, and soon he could see why.

"Mom, we really need to leave!" He said urgently, eyes wide and skin pale. 

She waved him off, as neither she nor the seller had noticed the growing commotion. Noticing Roman’s growing nerves, she quickly finished up.

She chewed her lip as she took in the spectacle in the square. “Roman… We’re going to try to leave as quickly as possible. We can’t do anything for them and they won’t do anything for us.”

Roman frowned but nodded, his hands clenched in a fist by his side, the half-eaten apple long gone as his mother ushered him towards the far side of the square.

Unfortunately, they weren’t lucky enough to escape. A hand simultaneously grabbed Roman and his mother and they were thrown into the middle of the square with a half dozen other people, just as desperate to remain calm as them.

Roman and his mother looked warily at each other, fear thinly veiled in their eyes. They’d both heard of these raids. They knew better than anyone what the result was.

They’d already had on person in their family killed in one.

Six people. Six people were going to die today. Six innocent people, with families and pets and dreams and friends and-

They were all going to die.

And there was nothing he could do.

It made Roman frustrated, and sad, and he hated this feeling of helplessness. There was usually a cry as each person was killed. Now, those remaining had given up on the facade of calm and were openly crying into the arms of loved ones, if they had them. Only three people weren’t crying. Roman, his mother, and a boy in a black and purple hoodie sitting alone beside them. He had a faint bruise on his cheekbone and bangs covering his face.

Before he knew it, one of the serpents was pulling his mother up roughly and Roman couldn’t help himself, but if they were all going to die anyways-

“Don-Don’t touch her.” He said, voice breaking.

The man scoffed and raised a mocking eyebrow.

“How sweet, momma’s little boy attempting to protect her…”

Roman jumped from his spot on the ground, swinging blindly, only for strong arms to grab his and twist them behind his back, threatening a break and holding him back at the same time.

He finally felt tears start to make their way down his face as he locked gazes with that of his mother.  As he watched, she started mouthing something.

“Sorry, Princ- “

She never got to finish her sentence.

Roman screamed, jolting forward. Distantly, he heard a pop but he was focused on little else other than the unmoving form of his mother, neck twisted at an odd angle.

He startled as he was doused in freezing cold water and then a hand grabbed his good arm and started pulling.

Roman gave little resistance, sobs spilling out of his mouth.

“Look, buddy, I know- well, I don’t really know, but – I know this is a lot to get through and she was your mother and you loved her but I need you to continue your grieving once I get us to a safe place, yeah? Because I’m a little worn out from running and dumping water on them and now keeping up that water-dumping now that I can’t see it and I’m not even in the same general area and, you get the gist?”

Roman swallowed harshly and nodded, tears still running down his face, but he started running on his own. He was still holding on to this guy’s hand, but he supposed that wasn’t what he was supposed to be thinking in this situation, but-

It was a welcome relief from reality, and Roman felt he deserved it.

They kept running until they couldn’t hear the bustle of the town or the shouts of the serpentine men.

They collapsed on the far end of a grassy loll to catch their breath.

“I should let you know,” the stranger started, rolling onto his back, “I lied. I hate working hard.”

Roman let out a weak laugh, wet from tears. “Of course.”

There was a shift in the grass next to him, and then Roman heard a hesitant voice beside him. “Um, its…... its okay, now, to cry. I’m sure you’re not okay.”

And those were the last words that Roman thought he’d find comfort in, but he found that they were exactly the ones he needed to hear.

He promptly started to bawl his eyes out as Virgil dealt with Roman's dislocated shoulder.

\-------------- POV CHANGE -----

            Patton smiled as he woke up, burrowing into his pillow.

The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and the smell of eggs was wafting up from downstairs.

Patton got up and raced downstairs. He leaned casually against the wall and cleared his throat.

“It smells eggstraordinary today.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows at his mother as she turned around.

“You crack me up, Patton!” She said, cracking an egg into a bowl.

“Eggsquisite!”

“Okay, Pat, I think that’s a little eggstra.”

“Nonsense, this is eggsactly what you want to hear in the mornings.”

Patton’s mother just laughed, setting his plate of eggs in front of him. “Eat, you dork.” She said fondly.

Patton and his mother talked all through breakfast and then came time for him to leave.

“Are you sure you’ve got everything? Some water, a snack, you surely know how to get there by now, you don’t need a map do you?”

Patton laughed and sook his head. “No, mom, I’m fine, I’ve got everything I need.”

Patton’s mom laughed and sent Patton on his way. “Have an eggcelent day, sweetheart!” she called, grinning.

Patton turned and gave a wide shrug. “You win, Mom!”

He turned and started humming, matching his steps to the tempo of the song.

He waved cheerily to the people he passed on the street and even struck up conversation with some of them.

He loved talking to the people in his town and hardly any of them were bad people.

And none of them were serpents. All the serpents came from places outside his town.

Outside his kingdom, actually.

The serpents were people who identified as or supported the 13th sign, Ophiuchus.

The leader of this gang of followers was named Oleander.

Nobody really seemed to know where he came from, other than “outside the kingdom” but he didn’t have the peaceful mindset of the majority of Cerrarin.

He brought with him other people from outside the kingdom, and they all followed him religiously.

Honestly, Patton thought it was scary. There were talks of raids in the busiest parts of some towns and Patton didn’t know what he’d do in that situation. And the rulers of Cerrarin had, as of yet, done nothing.

Patton was yanked out of his thoughts by a commotion in a small alley between two small shops. Two tall figures were cornering a girl against a wall, wearing the signature black-and-green cloaks of the serpents.

Patton gave himself a moment to have an internal freak-out. Those were /serpents/ wearing their strange cloaks, and he was in khakis and a polo. Even if Patton knew how to fight effectively, he didn’t think khakis were a very big intimidation factor.

Patton hesitated, warring with himself. On one hand, he didn’t really want to die today. Maybe they didn’t feel like fighting, but that was…unlikely. On the other hand, that poor girl must be terrified.

Patton sighed. He’d feel so guilty if he just left her there and leaving wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

He took a hesitant step forward. “Hey, um, guys?” He called, a kind smile on his face. “Could you, maybe, let up on her a little? I don’t think she’s comfortable with you being that close…”

Both of the guys turned, identical peeved expressions on their faces. “Have you got a problem, baby-face?”

Patton laughed lightly, rubbing the back of his head. This had definitely been a bad idea. “No, not- not particularly, but I mean…no, do how you like, but it’s really not okay to invade personal space that way...” Patton stumbled through his words before noticing that the girl was no longer behind the two men and had apparently took the opportunity to flee.

They took a simultaneous step towards him and Patton took one back. “Which means, you- uh, really shouldn’t, hurt me either… because that is also not… morally correct.” Patton lets out another awkward laugh and bolts. He can hear the harsh footfalls of the two serpents behind him but he doesn’t dare look back. He’s only thinking about getting through these narrow alleys without meeting a dead-end or accidentally running into more serpents.

Eventually, Patton can feel his energy waning. He’s definitely not going to be able to run much longer and he’s nowhere near safe.

Acting on a split-second impulse, Patton knocks rapidly three times on the door of the nearest house before bursting in, slamming the door behind him and leaning on it, bending over and attempting to catch his breath.

“You should stand up straight. It will be easier for you body to regain breath that way.”

Patton looked towards the origin of the voice. A boy sat at the table, wearing a fandom t-shirt and jeans, casually drinking coffee as if a stranger hadn’t just burst into his house. He had one brown eyebrow skeptically raised, but that was the extent of his reaction.

Patton did as he said and straightened up. “Th…. Thanks…” Patton replied, breathless.

The two watched each other for a short time until Patton could talk normally.

“Greetings. I am Logan, and you are…?”

“I’m Patton!” Patton said, grinning and giving Logan a weak wave.

“Would you mind informing me as to why you seem to be running from someone? Or why you chose my residence to take refuge in?”

Patton shrugged, before the entire story came spilling out of his mouth. “Okay, so I left my moms house this morning to go to my Dad’s, right? Because they’ve been divorced for a while now, and we had some great egg puns this morning lemme tell ya, and then on my way to my dad’s there was this girl and she was kinda trapped in this alleyway with this pair of serpents and that’s bad news. So, I may have called out and distracted them so she could leave but then they got mad at me and started chasing me and I was running out of stamina. And like, I couldn’t turn back and go the other direction because they were chasing me and I couldn’t go to my dad’s because I’m a little lost now. I really don’t wanna get him involved anyways, and- “

Logan cut off Patton’s rambling and nodded. “That is sufficient. You may stay here if you wish, but it is an ill-advised decision.”

Patton looked up, confused. “What do you mean?”

Logan nodded in the direction of the window. “They’re already outside. You’ve involved me as well, and though I don’t mind I do wish we could have done this on better circumstances with more time to prepare…” Logan immediately began packing things into two backpacks.

Into one, he packed various medical supplies, several changes of clothes, and a folder of paper. Into the other, he packed food. Lots of food, and what money he could find in the house.

Patton watched in awe. Half of the things Logan packed, Patton wouldn’t have even thought about.

“Come on, Patton, we will have to leave out of the back if we want to get a slight head start.”

Patton nodded, grabbing the backpack Logan handed to him and hurrying to follow.

They got out of the house and immediately started running. Once they reached the forest, Logan slowed down. He and Patton walked without talking for a while, the only noise Patton’s humming and the woodland sounds around them. Eventually, Logan stopped.

“There’s still quite a lot of daylight left. I would like to go into town alone to get additional supplies. I would like you to collect optimum firewood, if that is acceptable? Your face is too recognizable in town.”

Patton nodded, hefting his backpack further onto his shoulders. “Will do!”

Logan nodded, giving a brief wave before setting off on the shortest route to the village, his own backpack on his shoulders.

Patton’s mind wandered as he walked through the forest. He kept his eye out for goof firewood, but for the most part he let himself wander.

He listened to the birds and enjoyed the feel of the Earth around him. Most Taurus-born children developed a control of the Earth, but every so often, a Taurus child would develop an affinity for air.

Patton was an Earth child. He didn’t mind being in the majority. He thought the earth was beautiful and he loved having a special connection to it. After all, “Earth” didn’t just mean dirt or mud – it meant the trees and the grass and the flowers. The ferns and the leaves and the berries.

Technically speaking, each Zodiac sign had a 50/50 chance to receive one of two elements.

Aries usually received Fire or Air, Gemini usually received Air or Fire, Cancer usually received Air or Water, Libra received Earth or Air, Leo received Fire or Earth, and so on.

Scorpio had a chance of receiving either Fire or Water, Sagittarius might receive either Fire or Air, Aquarius received Air or Earth, Capricorn received Fire or Earth, Pisces received Water or Earth, and finally, Virgo received Air or Earth. Taurus, as Patton was, of course received either Earth or Air.

The serpent, Ophiuchus, was different. They did not receive an element, because in face, there was no 13th sign. The 13th zodiac sign is very much a myth to the people living in Cerrarin. They all agreed that it had been used at a small point of time in the past but none knew why it started or stopped.

Patton figured he should ask Logan. Logan seemed like the type of person to know.

Patton was yanked roughly out of his thoughts through the collision of his body with somebody else’s.

Patton hears a curse in his ear and then there’s somebody yelling at him to move. Patton runs after the other boy, keeping his eyes fixed on the boy’s red and white shirt.

Unfortunately for them, the boy in red led the two of them to a dead end.

A tall cliff reached high above them.

While Patton could have created stairs behind them, the other boy seemed to be distressed. His eyes were red where he’d been crying and his hands were clenched by his side.

“I’m such an idiot, look at me running directly into a dead end.” He turned to Patton, continuing. “I’m so sorry I dragged you into this but... um, you wouldn’t mind helping me out of this situation, right?”

Patton smiled. “Of course not, I’ll help as much as I can!”

As it turned out, ‘as much as I can’ turned out to be quite a bit. As soon as the serpents came, he brought up a wall of stone, trapping them and preventing them from lashing back. He then brought the earth from underneath his half and dumped in over top of them, finishing off by topping his side of the stone wall overtop of the newly packed dirt. It was neat and quick, but Patton felt guilty. He ignored Roman’s side of the stone and started picking flowers

He gently placed the bouquet of small flowers on top of the stone slab and sat back, giving the serpents a moment of silence.

Sooner rather than later, their work was done.

There was a hand on his shoulder.

Patton smiled sadly. “Them or us, at this point,” he said. “its terrible, that this is what it’s come to.”

Roman nodded. “I… My name is Roman. I guess whether you were already on the run or not, I would like to ask you if you’d like to come join me and … an acquaintance.”

Patton frowned. “I have a friend who went into town, I really shouldn’t.” He didn’t know Logan well, but Patton believed him to be a friend, and didn’t want to betray him.

Roman shrugged. “You can both come, I’m sure Panic at the Everywhere wouldn’t mind. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, I think they say. Wait, no…”

Patton watched as Roman began to think, and smiled. “Okay. I’ll come. The more the merrier!”

Roman looked up and grinned. “Excellent! Let us be on our way, then. We’ll go and wait for Emo Nightmare to get back and then we’ll go search for your friend. Yeah?”

Patton nodded. “Yup!”

He began following Roman, but unlike the silence with Logan, this one was awkward. Without the adrenaline of the fight giving them something to talk about, things became weird.

“Wanna play a game?” Roman asked cheerily.

“What kind of game?” Patton asked with just as much energy.

Roman shrugged. “A bit like 21 questions except we’re just friends and there’s no end goal. Just, I ask a question, you ask one, and it goes on. We get two skips.”

Patton nodded. “Okay. Sure!”

Roman kicked his feet and thought for a moment “What’s your favorite color?”

Patton hummed happily. “Green! What’s your favorite music?”

Roman answered without hesitation. “Literally any Disney song.”

Patton gasped. “That’s great, I love Disney!”

Roman grinned. “What’s your favorite flower?”

“Chrysanthemums! So fluffy!”

They continued in this manner until they reached Roman’s camp, only to see that his friend was already there, with someone else.

“Logan, buddy!”

Logan looks up, eye widened slightly in surprise. “Hello, Patton. I see you found another person as well.

Patton nodded. “We had a bit of trouble, but we’re okay now.”

Roman nodded. “This is Virgil. We’re kind of on the run from the Serpents.”

Logan nodded. “Indeed. My name is Logan. Patton and I are ‘on the run’ as well.”

“Well, there’s strength in numbers! We should stick together!” Patton exclaims.

Roman nodded. “I will admit the four of us together will be stronger than us separate.”

Logan agreed with a simple nod as well and Virgil just shrugged.

“I’d like to ask something of you all.” Roman said, his voice serious. “Will you help me defeat Ophiuchus?”


	2. Chapter 2

When Patton wakes up, he wakes up slowly. He’s expecting the warmth of his bed at his mother’s house and the smell of pancakes wafting down the halls to wake him up, or the sound of his mother calling him if the previous option had no effect.

                Instead, he’s met with the cool, green smell of the morning forest around him and the chirping of birds. Patton doesn’t mind the change-up, but he can say he almost thought the last day had been nothing but a strangely elaborate dream.

                He sat up slowly and let out a soft sigh. He got to his feet and moved over to the twin logs from yesterday. He hadn’t been sitting for 5 minutes when another body joined his own on the impromptu bench.

                “What’s up, Patton?” The other person asked, yawning and stretching his arms above his head.

                Patton laughed. “Pshh, the sky, silly!” He said, trying to divert Roman’s attention.

                Roman just raises an eyebrow. “Yeah, I’ve known you for one day and I already know you well enough to tell when you’re trying to deflect a question.”

                Patton winced. “Yeah?”

                Roman nodded. “Yeah. So tell me what’s really wrong?”

                 Patton sighed. “I’m worried about my parents. They’re both alone, even after all this time apart, and with the serpents all over the place, I’m not sure I….”

                Patton’s voice trails off as his eyes start to water.

                “Roman, we’re making all these big plans and all, but what if I never get to see them again? What if one or the other is killed in a raid? What if I never get to say goodbye?”

                Roman watched for a second and then leaned back on his elbows. “Patton, you’re kind of an airhead sometimes.” He said, smiling at Patton to make sure the other knew he was teasing. “We’re all scared. But you don’t have to be. Because I swear on my Disney playlist, Logan and I and even Charlie Frown over there, we’ll all make sure you get to see your parents again.”

                Patton smiled. Despite the teasing, he definitely felt better now. He and Roman sat on the log as they watched the sun come up.

                “Hey, Roman?” Patton asked softly, nudging Roman’s shoulder.

                “Yeah?”

                “Thanks.”

Before they realized it, Logan was behind them and waking up Virgil by using the air to push him off his temporary bed. Virgil frowned up at him, but didn’t react other than a small scowl.

Logan passed out food and for a while, they ate in silence.

When everybody was done and just resorted to staring off into the distance, it became awkward.

“So…. What’s our first step?” Roman asked, looking around the group.

Virgil scoffed. “You were the one who suggested this, I figured you might have maybe had a plan of some sort, Princey.”

                Roman grimaced. “I suppose you’re correct, Hot Topic. You agreed, however. Might you have done some brainstorming?”

                Virgil rolled his eyes. “I’m only here because this is the only place /to/ go, don’t get ahead of yourself.”

                Patton butt in with a cheerful, “Why don’t we just go straight for the leader?”

                Virgil looked at him disbelievingly, and Roman looked just as cheery as Patton. “You guys can’t be serious!?” Virgil exclaimed. “That’s like a suicide mission. It’s way too risky!”

                Roman rolled his eyes. “We’ll never get anywhere with that mindset!”

                Virgil threw his hands up in exasperation. “We’ll never get anywhere if we’re all dead!” His breathing quickened, and he could feel his heartbeat gradually accelerating. “We can’t even win against three or four of the serpents, roman, let alone their leader!”

                “We have the power to control an element, Virgil, we just have to train!”

                “Roman, you do know what kingdom you live in, right? This is Cerrarin, over half the kingdom has that power!”

                Roman took a deep breath and moved to crouch in front of Virgil. He took Virgil’s hands gently in his own and looked up into Virgil’s eyes, determined to make him see the bigger picture. “Virgil… we have to go directly for Ophiuchus. If we don’t, he’ll come back. He’ll send more Serpents. He’ll send out more raids. Virgil, if we don’t kill the problem at it’s source, it’s just going to keep getting worse.”

“This could be adequate.” Logan agreed, looking resigned. “This plan of action eliminates the possibility of a counter and the additional benefit of a possible collapse of the enemy’s organization. As much as I despise the greater risk of this plan, it does seem to be the best option.”

Virgil looked down into Roman’s eyes, that warmth growing in his stomach. He felt himself giving in as he realized that there was no other choice. “Okay, but how are we going to go about it? It’ll definitely be a suicide mission if we go in unprepared.”

“I believe it best to confront him head-on, in a public setting.” Logan said, pushing his glasses up on his nose. “This way, his followers will see him fall and there will be less risk of a rise from one of them. It will also assuage the fears of the general populace.”

“Yeah, okay, but how are you going to get to him?” Virgil asked. “It’s not like he’ll just be standing out in the open exactly where we need him.”

                Roman frowned. “We can just go up to him when we see him in the right place. I’m sure if we can beat the serpents in our town we can beat the serpents wherever he is.”

                Virgil frowned back at him, his eyebrows furrowed. “Roman, we don’t even know what he looks like. And his guards will be a lot better trained than the ones in our town. We just got lucky.”

                Roman nodded in contemplation, but Patton spoke before Roman voiced his thoughts.

                “Well, why don’t we just go and find some information on this guy first? We can each go to a different town and meet back here to exchange information!”

                The other three exchanged glances before agreeing. Patton and Virgil would go to Zhoria and Roman and Logan stayed and trained their respective elements for offensive use.

                They quickly talked before setting out on their respective paths.

                After a while, Virgil struck up conversation. “So, how’d you get dragged into this mess, Patton?” Virgil asked, keep his gaze firmly on the ground in front of him. Starting the conversation stressed him out but the silence was worse so he picked the lesser of two evils.

                Patton laughed. “Well, I actually thought it might have been a dream when I woke up this morning!” He said, blushing slightly as he remembered his talk with Roman early that morning. “But basically, I was walking over to my Dad’s house. My mother and father are divorced, so I alternate between them every few months. Usually I walk, because its really not that far. Dad only lives one town over, after all, and I enjoy talking to everyone. But anyways, as I was walking I saw this girl and these two serpents kind of had her trapped, and I couldn’t just leave her, yknow?” Patton looked over at Virgil to make sure he was following.

Virgil nodded, glancing at Patton before looking back down again. “Mhm.”

Patton grinned and continued on with his story. “So I called out to them- “

Virgil made a noise and looked up at Patton, eyes wide. “You actually called out to them? The serpents?”

Patton shrugged. “Well, I mean, there wasn’t much else I could do…”

Virgil blinked and stuffed his hands further into his hoodie pocket. “You’re great, Patton.”

Patton grinned. “Thanks, bud! But anyways, they didn’t really take kindly to me ruining their fun but the girl did get away so I decided it was time for me to flee. So, I was kind of running out of steam so I just knocked on a random house and came in and Logan was just sitting at his counter, sipping coffee.”

Virgil snorted. “Of course he wouldn’t react to a stranger bursting into his house.”

Patton laughed and shrugged. “We talked and kinda decided that we should go on the run to avoid being, ya know, killed or whatever, and he packed some bags and some money and we left out the back door and ran.”

Virgil hummed, taking it in. “So, you got pulled into this because you were too nice.”

Patton tilted his head. “I mean, I suppose.”

Virgil’s head shot up and he turned to Patton and began frantically reassuring him. “I didn’t mean it as a bad thing, I think it’s great and you’re one of the few good people in this world,” Virgil hesitated, biting his lip. “But, do…”

                Virgil decided not to continue his sentence, shaking his head. “Never mind.” He mumbled, fidgeting.

                Patton gives Virgil a small smile and then asks him the same question. “What about you, Virgil? How’d you get involved?”

                Virgil flinched. “I… was taking a stroll and my feet took me to the square.”

                _Pain raced across Virgil’s cheekbone as he was hit. He fell backwards with the force of it and landed on the grass outside of his house. The dew from the cold night air felt foreign on his hands. A door was slammed and a lock clicked into place. There would be no getting into that house until the next day. It was best to go on a walk and come back later._

Virgil frowned, shrugging his hoodie further onto his shoulders. He wished he could do the same to these memories. Oh, to be able to shrug off thoughts as easy as that.

                “When I looked up the serpents were just starting to come in and it was basically quiet chaos. Everybody was trying to get their loved ones rounded up and out of the square without drawing attention to themselves. Honestly, I think they’d have a greater chance if they all at once just started running.”

                Patton was listening intently, nodding along to the story when Virgil glanced over.

                “But in this chaos, there was a little girl and she’s wandered away from her family and the rest of them were already outside the square but they refused to run until she got there.” Virgil sighed. “But she was just a little thing. She didn’t really understand what was happening and she couldn’t run very fast yet.”

                “What did you do?” Patton asked, eyes worried.

                “I picked her up and ran. Her parents looked a little bit more relieved when I looked at them but I mean we definitely weren’t safe so it wasn’t the best decision. But by the time I’d almost reached her family, one of the serpents was already behind me so I threw the girl towards her father and turned around and kind of tackled the guy.”

                Patton gasped. “Oh no! Did you get caught? Did the girl and her family get away?”

                Virgil nodded. “Yeah, I guess I created enough of a diversion for them to escape, but I caught pulled into one of the raids’ execution circles. They were killing everyone, one by one and I welcome death but these obviously didn’t and I hated hearing their screams and the crying and-and….”

                Suddenly Virgil was getting choked up. He stared hard at the ground, trying not to imagine the bodies littered around the square. He took a shaky breath in and continued. “I couldn’t take it anymore so I grabbed Roman because he was the only other one left alive in out circle and ran for it. I created a waterfall around them and ran until we were out of the city. Roman had a broken arm and I had to try to help with it but we both agreed we needed a base of sorts so we walked around until we found that clearing. “

                When Virgil looked up, Patton was crying.

                “Hey, Patton, it’s okay, you know?” He said in an attempt to comfort him. “I mean, it’s definitely not okay, it’s terrible, but that’s why we’re doing this, right?”

                Patton nodded and smiled, sniffling slightly.

                If this is how Patton reacted to the story of raids, Virgil thought, it’s a good thing he doesn’t know about the mess of life at home.

                They remained in a companionable silence until they reached the entrance of the town.

                “Meet back at 5?” Virgil asked, glancing over at Patton.

                Patton nodded enthusiastically, having recovered from his cry on the trip. “You bet!” HE said before setting out.

                Virgil merely nodded before going on his way. He quickly decided to head to the square.

                As he walked, he subconsciously let his mind wander and was only pulled back to the present when he collided with another person.

                When he was finally able to focus, he fixed his eyes on the girl in front of him. She was sitting where she’d fallen on the ground and was looking up at Virgil with a frown and a small glare on her face.

                “Now, what kind of person are you, knocking down someone with their arms full?”

                Virgil started, debating with himself. Should he offer her a hand? No, maybe she didn’t want help up.

                Before he could come to a decision, the girl was already standing, and was beginning to pick up the material she had dropped. She started to walk off, but Virgil could feel his nerves jumping. He had to start his questioning somewhere.

                “Hey, um…” Virgil paused, hesitant. The girl had stopped and turned, foot tapping impatiently. “Sorry. Would you happen to know anything about that Ophiuchus guy?”

                She frowned but unloaded half of her pile into Virgil’s arms. Virgil flinched, nerves coiling in his gut, but followed her anyways when she motioned for him to follow. It was too late to back out now. Why couldn’t Roman have come, or Logan?

                “I don’t know who you are, but those aren’t questions you should ask in the middle of the square. You’re lucky to have bumped into me and not someone else.”

                Virgil shrugged, avoiding eye contact. “Didn’t have much choice.”

                The girl frowned. “My name is Reina. I do happen to have quite a bit of information on Ophiuchus. First of all, his name. He goes by Omar. “

                Virgil internally scoffed.

“ _Psh, so normal_.”

                “He’s got this kind of base up in Senlas. You know where I’m talking about?”

                Virgil nodded. Senlas was a fairly large town, but it was close to the border. “How long is he there?”

                Reina shrugged. “He leaves every three months. Goes outside the kingdom. Actually, from what I’ve heard on the grapevine, he’s just come back from one of those trips.”

                “What about the Serpents?” Virgil asked.

                “They’re a strange bunch. You know, some don’t even want to be a serpent. Some of them join for personal gain of course, but there are other reasons, y’know? Some of them don’t have any other choice.”

                Virgil opened his mouth to ask her to elaborate but was interrupted by the declaration that they had arrived at her home.

                “Thanks for using me as an interviewee, stranger. Hope I helped!”

                Virgil nodded, thanking her and handing off her materials before turning.

                Upon noticing it was almost 5, Virgil decided to head back, trying to remember all the information she’d given him and organize his thoughts.

                He knew that Ophiuchus had a name, and a base in Senlas. One that he left every three months, and that he had just come back from such a trip. Most importantly, he learned that the serpents weren’t all willing to be serpents. That meant, if their rag-tag group could take out Omar, the entire organization might fall.

                Virgil waved to Patton and relayed this information to him.

                “What about you?” He asked as they started the trip back to camp. “What did you learn?”

                Patton smiled. “The cats at the shelter are super cute.” He said, glancing at Virgil.

                Virgil let out a small smile as he rolled his eyes at Patton. “Anything else?”

                “Well, apparently this Omar guy is an elemental.  And when he leaves on those trips you mentioned, he goes to Ozlark.”

Virgil frowned. “Ozlark? Ozlark doesn’t have any ties to Cerrarin. Why would he go there?”

Patton put his hands up in an exaggerated shrug. “He doesn’t take any guards or anything with him either. Nobody has ever tried to attack him.”

Virgil shook his head and sighed. “It doesn’t make much sense. Maybe we’ll find out soon…”

Patton giggled and turned around. “Me and Roman asked each other questions on out walk yesterday. Can we ask each other questions?”

Virgil’s eyebrows furrowed uncomfortably, and he fixed his gaze decidedly on the ground.

“Sure, Patton. Go ahead.”

Patton clapped enthusiastically and bumped Virgil’s shoulder lightly.

“Yay! Ummmmmm, so… what’s your… favorite… animal! What’s your favorite animal?” Patton asked.

Virgil thought for a moment. “Cat. What’s yours?”

Patton laughed lightly. “Cats! I’m allergic, but they’re so cute and furry!”

“How are they your favorite animal then? Wouldn’t dogs be better?”

“Ah, you’re right! But I don’t know, cats just are so adorable!”

Virgil smiled. Conversation was easy with Patton, and he felt relaxed talking to him. So, the conversation continued much in this way, with questions interrupted by short conversations until Patton asked a question he really didn’t want to answer.

“Hey, Virgil. Where did you get that bruise on you face?”

Virgil immediately tensed up, and Patton must have noticed because he rushed to reassure Virgil.

“I mean, you don’t have to answer the question if you don’t want to, that’s totally fine. I really don’t mind if that was a bit too personal, I’m sorry! We really don’t know each other well yet and it was rude of me to ask and- “

Virgil chuckles, cutting off Patton’s rambling. There was a pleasant warm tingling in his heart and Virgil wasn’t sure how to deal with that.

So, he did what he did best.

He ignored the problem and shrugged at Patton.

“It’s okay, Patton. I wouldn’t answer a question I wasn’t comfortable with anyways.”

Virgil heard Patton’s sigh of relief and smiled just as they walked into camp, met with the sigh of Roman and Logan collapsed on the earth.

“You guys look like death.” He said coolly, stepping over Roman to sit on a log.

“I still look better than you, Doctor Gloom.”

Virgil merely scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“How did training go?” Patton asked brightly.

Logan rubbed his forehead, sitting up and leaning his back against one of the logs. “It was much more physically demanding than I had anticipated, due to Roman’s influence.” Logan said, glancing at Roman.

Roman nodded along, agreeing before turning to Virgil. “You have got to animate some water for a shower for Logan and I later.”

Virgil wrinkled his nose but nodded. The two smelled awful.

After they had their showers, with Patton and Virgil joining – they felt pretty nasty after the massacre in the square on Virgil’s end and the running and sweat from earlier for Patton – they all unanimously agreed to gather around the small campfire Roman conjured for them.

“So,” he said, suddenly serious, even through the wet hair falling into his eyes. “What did you learn? It’s time to make a game plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is out! I'm sorry for any typos, and if you see any, please tell me about them in the comments.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long and isn't as long... :(

                Patton and Virgil glanced at each other for a second before Patton took the opportunity to speak first.

                “Well, I went to the local animal shelter. Omar is definitely an elemental, from what they said.”

                Virgil nodded, agreeing. “Omar is Ophiuchus. It’s his given name, nerdy as it is.”

                Roman smirked. “You’re one to talk.”

                Virgil rolled his eyes. “As if you can say anything, Roman. The only person with a normal name in this group is Logan. Anyways, Omar has a base up in Senlas.”

                While Roman was making offended sputtering noises, Patton continued relaying the information.

                “He leaves his base every three months. He doesn’t take any guards at all, and the strangest part is, he goes to Ozlark!” Patton exclaimed, patting Roman on the back.

                “Why Ozlark?” Logan asked, eyes narrowed. “Ozlark has zero affiliation with Cerrarin.”

                Virgil and Patton looked at each other once more and then shrugged simultaneously.

                “I was never told.” Patton said apologetically. “But Virgil said that he just came back from this trip. We have 3 months until he leaves again,”

                Virgil nodded, as if to confirm this. “I also learned something about the serpents.” He said, a serious aura falling around him. “The girl I talked to told me that not all of them join the serpents willingly. Some are forced, they have no other choice.”

                Virgil looked around to everyone, making sure they heard him. “If we defeat Omar, the whole organization will probably fall.”

                Logan nodded, deep in thought. “This information further proves my previous chain of thoughts: A public confrontation would be best in the course of the grand scheme of things.”

                “But it would be best to attack when there are no guards, right? Does Omar pass through a public place on his way to Ozlark?” Roman asked, looking between the others.

                “He would have to, I think.” Patton said from beside Roman. “His base is in Senlas, and Senlas is a pretty big city. Gotta get out of town somehow, right?”

                Logan smiled slightly at Patton, nodding. “You’re right, Patton. We’ll certainly have to construct a plan; however, we will be able to catch him in a public place.”

                “So, we’re attacking when he goes on of those 3-month things?” Roman asked, looking around the group.

                Logan nodded. “That would be our best course of action.”

                “In that case, we must train!” Roman exclaimed, punching the air.

                Virgil nodded, a grim expression set on his face. “We definitely do if we want any chance to… to kill Omar.”

                There was a short period of silence before Patton spoke. “Are we… are we really killing him?”

                The air around them grew tense. Logan frowned, and Virgil drew his hoodie tighter around him. Roman’s eyebrows furrowed as he spoke.

                “I don’t think we have a choice.” He said, fists clenching by his side. “This _Omar_ guy doesn’t seem like the type to back down easily.”

                “But we’re just kids!” Virgil protested, pulling on the ends of his sleeves. “Can we really take down an adult?”

                Logan cleared his throat. “Well, from what I have heard, Ophiuchus is only in his late 20s to early 30s. He’s not especially old at all.”

                Patton looked between them, biting his lip. “Is… is it really okay to take a life, though?” he asked. “Maybe he’ll listen to reason!”

                Logan shook his head, eyes narrowed. “He’s the ringleader of a group that kills without mercy, and he, himself, has killed before. I don’t believe he’ll ever listen to reason.”

                “We can try both, can’t we?” Roman asked. A short silence follows his words and he runs a hand through his hair. “We can try to talk to him first, and see if he’ll listen. If not, and we’re proven right…we can do what we have to.”

                The others hesitantly agreed, one by one.

                “That would be the best plan of action. I suggest we commence training as soon as possible.” Logan said, adjusting his glasses.

                Patton hesitantly agreed. “How are we going to train?” He asked.

                “Maybe 2-on-2 battles?” Virgil suggested, crossing his arms. “We can critique each other afterwards, advise each other on ways to improve. We have three months, so…”

                “This would also prepare us for Omar, no matter what type of elemental he turns out to be.”

                Roman and Patton exchange a skeptical glance, before agreeing.

                “Where are we going to practice, then?” Patton asks reluctantly. “I might be able to make a clearing, but we’ll be leaving soon, so I don’t know if it would be best.”

                Virgil looks up, blinking. “How would you make a clearing?” he asks, Roman nodding emphatically from beside him.

                Patton smiles sheepishly, shrugging. “I can move a few trees and stumps if we find an open enough area.” He explains.

                “That would be adequate.” Logan said. “We can go to the place Roman and I practiced. It was mostly clear.”

               “Okay,” Roman started once the group had gotten mostly settled, “But what about weapons. We can’t rely solely on our elements.” He pointed out.

                “He has a point,” Logan said, pulling out a dagger at the same time Virgil is pulling out his own.

                The two blink in surprise.

                “Why do you have a dagger?” Virgil asked.

                “It was originally for wilderness survival purpose, but I suppose it now has another use. Might I enquire as to why you have one?”

                Virgil looked away, shrugging awkwardly. “I’d prefer not to say, honestly.”

                Logan frowned but accepted his answer, moving on. “Well, when will this training start?” He asks. “We have two weapons, so we can have one match at a time. We can all pick out weapons at a later date.”

                “We have three months, but I’d like to get started now. After all, we do still have to travel to Senlas.” Roman says, before suggesting that they decide by Rock, Paper, Scissors.

                “We might as well…” Virgil said. He sighed and turned towards Roman, who was closest to him. “Ready, Romano?”

                “You bet, Count Woe-laf.”

                Patton and Logan exchanged an amused glance before turning to each other.

                “I guess that means that we’re gonna be doing some rock, paper, scissors, huh?”

                “Right. May luck be with you.”

                Patton grinned as he turned towards Logan. “That sounded a little bit like Star Wars. Intentionally or…?”

                Logan blushed, avoiding eye contact. “While I have watched the Star Wars series, I happen to be more of a Star Trek fan myself.” He admitted.

                Patton squealed, flapping his “paper” in the air as he grabbed Logan’s “rock” with his free hand. “Logan, oh my gosh! We have to watch them together when this is all over!”

                Logan could give little more than a jerky nod, stumbling over his words.

                Patton won the next round as well, with a rock-to-scissors tactic, and they turned around just in time to see Roman gloating over his own victory.

                “In your face, Dr. Doom!” Roman exclaimed.

                Virgil rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Yeah yeah, whatever, Princey. I’m fine with this. It just means I don’t have to fight first.”

                Roman smirks and walks over to the impromptu clearing. “So, who am I up against from your pair?” he asked.

                Patton raised his hand, hesitantly walking over to stand opposite of Roman.

                “So, how do we do this?” He asked, shuffling his feet in the grass.

                “Well, try to stop my movements.” Roman explained. “Try to stop me from moving or attacking. My goal will be to block you off and make evade your attempts at blocking me.”

                Patton nodded and then Logan cleared his throat from where he and Virgil sat at the sidelines. “If you don’t mind,” He started, cupping his elbow in his palm, “I will count you down. 3… 2… 1… Start!”

                Roman wasted no time in darting directly towards Patton, Virgil’s dagger clutched in his left hand. Before he could get close, however, Patton conjured several walls to block him and trap him in. Before Roman could think of a way to escape and counter, the wall at his back fell and the handle of Patton’s borrowed dagger was pushed against his neck.

                Roman blinked, stunned, before breaking into a huge grin.

                “Oh my gosh, Patton!” He gushed. “How did you do that! It was so cool!”

                Patton blushed, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Mom made me learn to fight so that I could protect myself on my way to my dad’s house.”

                “Why did you not fight the serpents harassing the girl, then?” Logan asked.

                “I guess I just don’t really like to fight!”

                Virgil rolled his eyes despite the fond smile on his face. “You’re a good person, Patton.” He said before turning to Logan. “Guess it’s our turn, Logan.”

                Logan nodded, retrieving his own dagger from Patton before walking to his spot in the clearing. Roman called start from the sidelines, but neither Logan or Virgil moved.

                If Roman and Patton’s battle was all impulse and immediate reactions, Logan and Virgil’s was slow and calculated.

                Logan stared at Virgil from across the clearing. He was unwilling to make the first move, and it seemed that Virgil felt the same. But a stalemate would get them nowhere, so Logan gave in first, sending a wall of air towards Virgil in an attempt to knock him over.

                Unfortunately, Virgil seemed to be prepared. As Logan watched, a huge sheet of water shot up, creating an effective shield 6 feet in front of Virgil. The shield took most of the impactive, which rendered Logan’s attack useless.

                Logan had no time to ponder this however, as Virgil quickly switched to the offensive, sending a barrage of heavy, orb-shaped water at him. Logan dove out of the way, narrowing his eyebrows at Virgil and stirring the air around him as he finds his feet again.

                Using his mini-tornado as a distraction, Logan darted towards Virgil, getting about halfway across the clearing before Virgil surrounds his tornado in water, smothering it.

                Logan makes a small tsk in the back of his throat. He and Virgil had come to yet another stalemate.

                This time, however, Virgil is the one that breaks it. He sent an attack similar to Logan’s earlier one, only in his own element. Logan had no room to predict it, as close as they were standing, and was bowled over by the force of the water slamming into him.

                Not two seconds later, Virgil is hovering over him, his own dagger held against Logan’s neck as Logan gasped for air.

                Logan tilted his head curiously after regaining control of his breathing. “Did you copy my move from earlier?” He asked.

                “I at least tried.” Virgil replied, shrugging.

                “How did you do it?”

                “I can… so to say, feel the water particles in the air. From there it was mostly imagery.”

                “Then that’s how you could sense it coming as well?”

                Virgil nodded, getting off of Logan’s now drenched form and offering him a hand.

                Logan smirked. “Then it would be a safe assumption that Patton isn’t the only one with prior training?”

                Logan frowned as he saw Virgil tense, shifting uncomfortably.

                It was confusing behavior to Logan, but he decided not to press the matter. “Well, these matches are certainly interesting.” He commented instead.

                Patton nodded enthusiastically from where he was sitting while Virgil and Logan combined their efforts to dry the latter off.

                “Guys, I think this might just work!” Roman exclaimed.

                Virgil rolled his eyes, hiding his smile with his sweater sleeve. “We’ve trained for less than a day, Romano.”

                Logan raised a hand slightly, intervening. “Actually, I believe he is correct, Virgil.” He said. “With a combination of our strengthening elemental abilities and the build-up of our physical abilities, success is vastly more likely than it may originally seem. For example, what were some things you remember that any of us could improve on?”

                Virgil frowned. “Well, you’re a bit hesitant, Logan. You think too much and it leaves you open for attack. Roman, you don’t think enough, so you rush in and end up getting hurt. Patton, you seem pretty good but what if they got out before you, or what if they attack you when you take down the back wall?”

                Logan smiled. “See, Virgil. That’s already one step closer to the defeat of Omar. Once we all get weapons that suit us…” Logan paused, looking around the group, “I believe that we will be quite enough to defeat Omar.”

                Virgil smiled hesitantly at Logan and he felt his stomach flip in his chest.

                Logan had never really been much of a confrontational person, but maybe…

                Maybe for this purpose, and with these people, he could ‘weather the storm,’ as they say.

                “Hey, guys!” Patton exclaimed suddenly, bouncing in his seat and sending an apologetic look to Virgil at the boy’s flinch, “I just realized, but… I get to spend three months with you guys! Its just…. Pawsitively Purrfect!” He said, giggling. In his hand he held a small rock figurine of a cat he’d conjured.

                The pun was met with groans from Roman and Logan and a stifled laugh from Virgil.

                Well, Logan thought, there were definitely worse people to save the kingdom with.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, guys
> 
> please point out any inconsistencies!

 

The four lay, panting, on the grass. Roman’s shirt had a smear of dirt, and Patton’s cardigan had been forgotten on the side of the field. Even Logan had loosened his tie. Virgil had neatly folded his hoodie over a tree branch, but had left his long shirt sleeves down.

                “Hey, guys…?” Patton asked once he had caught his breath. “We’ve been out here for 6 days, and 3 of those have been spent training… don’t you think it’s time for a break?”

                Logan hummed in agreement from beside him. “Indeed. I was thinking much of the same. We need a day to recuperate before we head off to Senlas, and two daggers between 4 people is not an ideal situation.”

                Roman nodded in agreement from his place on the ground. “I hate that dagger!” he said, grimacing. “It’s much too small for me and its striking distance is very close. No offense, Virgil, it’s just really not my thing.”

                Virgil shrugged, pulling idly on his shirt sleeves. “None taken.” He noted.

                “We can all leave together then!” Patton bubbled.

                “Senlas is a long way away,” Virgil pointed out after they all agreed. “If we want to get there in time to map out Omar’s path, we have to leave today.”

                Logan and Roman exchanged a serious glance before simultaneously blinking in surprise and turning to Patton, who had clapped his hands excitedly.

                “I just realized I get to spend three months with you guys!” He beamed.

                Virgil jumped at the sudden exclamation and stuttered out a few words before ultimately giving up and just sending Patton a small smile. Logan only gave a short blink of surprise, his stomach turning in some form of excitement or nervousness. Roman cheered and gave Patton a high five.

                Logan shakes his head and clears his throat. “We can go to town for our necessities and meet up at the entrance to depart for Senlas.”

                Roman, Virgil, and Patton all nod before they and Logan head off towards their neighboring town. As soon as they reach the square, however, Logan and Roman are both distracted by a vendor selling some form of jelly.

                Virgil and Patton continue browsing the stalls. Patton was tugging on Virgil’s hoodie sleeve (now that he had put it back on) to show him various knick-knacks from the vendors. Virgil didn’t quite know why, but he loved it. Patton was just… easy to talk to, to be around, to relax with. With Patton, Virgil didn’t have to worry about the next thing to say or what Patton was thinking or about hiding. Patton was warm and light and friendly.

                Patton was probably the first and only real friend Virgil had ever had, and they’d only met 6 days ago.

                Currently, Patton was showing Virgil a group of marbles. They were color coded, and ranged the entire spectrum from red to blue. But these solid colored marbles weren’t the ones Patton was interested in. He was looking at a group of 6 marbles set off to the side. These weren’t solidly colored like the rest – they had a base color and streaks of bright purples or blues or reds shot through them.

                Patton was severely fangirling over them, his hands pressed to his cheeks.

                “Sir, those marbles are faulty. Are you sure those are the ones you want?” the vendor asked, eyeing Patton skeptically. Patton looked up and nodded his head excitedly.

                “How much?” he asked.

                The vendor sighed and shrugged. “Nobody else will want them in this town. You can take those 6 for free, if you like.”

                Patton’s eyes went almost comically wide and his jaw dropped slightly. “You mean it?” he asked, voice awed as he reached out his hand for the bag. The vendor nodded and shooed Patton away with a hand while he turned to face the next person approaching his booth.

                “Virge! He gave me the prettier marbles for free!”

                Virgil smirked, nodding. “Indeed, he did.” He said. “Must be fate.”

                Patton gasped, his head shooting down to look at the marbles.

                “It has to be!” he exclaimed. “Look, there’s even one to match us all!”

                Patton pulled out four of the six marbles, and Virgil had to concede that they did seem to match their little rag-tag group pretty well.

 One of the marbles was a pale, misty gray, but it had bold sky-blue streaks shot through it. The marble reminded Virgil of Patton. The one that reminded Virgil of Logan sat beside Patton’s. It was bordering on royal blue, and had streaks of black running neatly through it. Then was Roman’s – his was red, with two colors of streaks instead of one. The streaks in his marble were similar to Patton’s, despite their gold and white coloring. And finally, there was the marble Virgil assumed to fit him. It was dark purple in the shadow of Patton’s body but, like the others, the color paled in the sunlight, turning it a medium lavender, with jet black streaks.

                The two spares were a constantly shifting prism as the sunlight hit them. Virgil looked up to Patton and smiled. “Maybe we can make necklaces out of them.” He said. Patton squealed, and the two continued meandering through the stalls until they ran into Roman and Logan beside a stall selling all kinds of weaponry. Swords, bows, knives, anything under the sun. When Virgil and Patton arrived, Roman was testing out one of the broadswords.

                “This is awesome!” He exclaimed as Patton and Virgil walked up. Roman bounced up to them and started rambling to Virgil as Logan dragged Patton off to find a weapon of his own.

                “This is so much better than your dagger, Virgil!” He exclaimed. “Look, it’s got such a wide range, and I can get a much better grip!”

                Virgil watched as Roman demonstrated, smiling. “Yup, it seems to be working good for you, Princey.”

                Roman went silent and still, before turning to Virgil. “Princey? Where did you hear that name?”

                Virgil frowned, taking a step back. “I… uh, princes wield swords.” Before the situation could become even more awkward, Virgil’s attention was captured by Logan.

                “Virgil, would you be interested in wielding both daggers until the end of this journey?” Logan asked. “Patton has found his own weapon of choice and I myself would much prefer a bow and arrow to a short-distance dagger.” He explained.

                Virgil blinked before shrugging. “I don’t see why not.” He said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “What did Patton choose?” he asked.

                Logan shrugged. “He chose a smaller type of gun. If I remember correctly, it’s one of the less common guns, as despite its size, it has ample amounts of ammunition.” Logan said. “It’s actually quite fascinating, as this was a gun that was, in fact, popular in other countries, and that…”

                Virgil smiled as Logan began to ramble on about the history of the gun. Logan looked completely tuned out other than the frequent glances he sent Virgil to ensure he was still listening (which he was).

                Soon enough, the four had gathered their weapons and begun to move out in the direction of Senlas.

                “So, to recap…” Logan began as they exited the town, “Virgil will be double wielding our daggers, Roman will be using his broadsword, I will be using a bow with arrows provided by Patton, and Patton will be using a gun for longer range with easy maneuverability.”

                The others agreed and Logan nodded. “Excellent. We can practice using these weapons on our way to Senlas.”               

                Patton smiled hesitantly, walking between Roman and Logan. “We can relax a day, though, right Lo? I mean it’s the first day, can’t we use it to make some progress?”

                Logan nodded, fixing his bow to his back. “You’re right, Patton. We can train at a later time.”

                Patton pumped his fist in the air and whooped. Logan merely shook his head fondly.

                “C’mon, you dork.” Roman said, gently shoving Patton.

                Virgil scoffed. “Again, as if you have room to talk. I’m beginning to think that you’re a bit of a hypocrite, Princey.”

                Roman scoffed, rolling his eyes with not real negativity behind the gestures.

                “Well, should we be on our way?” Roman asked instead, grinning brightly at his companions.

                They other three simultaneously nodded and turned, beginning to walk.

                Throughout the next few days, Virgil, Patton, Roman, and Logan got to know each other.

                They got to know each other’s quirks and annoyances and while they definitely didn’t keep everything as sun and roses, the atmosphere wasn’t terribly dark.

                Logan was quite unnerved, however. Strange… feelings were growing in his chest. A nervous tossing when he heard Roman singing, or saw Virgil try to hide his smile at Patton’s puns, or when he felt the marble Patton had made into a necklace thump against his chest. A warm cloud in his chest when he heard Patton giggling or had another debate with Virgil or made Roman smile.

                Patton had no concept of personal space, so he was constantly touching and bumping and hugging. While Logan didn’t mind, necessarily, the touches confused his heart even more.

                Roman was much of the same, to a lesser degree. He was always moving and talking and telling tales and re-enacting scenes from his favorite plays and singing his favorite songs and going on tales about grand adventures and fantastical scenarios, so much that Virgil had nicknamed him ‘Sir Sing-a-lot’ to go with ‘Princey”.

                Virgil was the quietest out of the four of them. In fact, Logan was sure that for every 100 words he said, Virgil said – maybe – one. But although he didn’t speak, he was still immersed in the conversation. Virgil laughed at Roman and Patton’s jokes, and he listened to Logan’s long rambles. But he flinched at sudden movements or volume changes and hadn’t yet let down his walls.

                Logan was sure there was a word for this feeling… but he was constantly drawing a blank.

                Logan was absolutely sure that he wouldn’t make it three months.

                It had only been a week and a half, at this point!

                So far, everything had been smooth sailing, however.

                Logan was quickly learning how to wield his bow, with the help of Patton conjuring arrows and target for him. He was now working on accuracy.

                Virgil was becoming skilled at using both daggers to the utmost ability, and had bested Roman a number of times.

                Not to say that Roman was doing terribly, however; he had come out victorious over the water elemental several times, his sword seemingly natural in his grip.

                The one who seemed to have the most trouble was undoubtedly Patton.

Patton had also been practicing his aim in the targets he made, but he refused to even use his gun during the matches, even with safety on. Patton was too kindhearted, too afraid of hurting one of them, to truly give his all. Patton was decidedly partial to the defensive, which meant he often came to stalemates. And since he was never the one to break these stalemates…

                Let’s just say Patton had won the least matches out of the four.

                One such match was the one happening in front of them.

                Patton and Virgil were facing off. Virgil had made the first move, pushing out with one dagger and then bringing the other around when Patton blocked the first. Patton had retaliated by bringing a shelf of rock beneath Virgil, Pushing him up and away. Now, the two were just staring at each other.

                Beside Logan, Roman was pacing in short, tense circles.

                “He can’t keep doing this!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. “Someday he’s going to get blocked in with no way to evade it, and he’s going to get seriously hurt, Logan!”

                Logan nodded, his eyebrows furrowed. “I’m well aware, Roman. I haven’t yet found an effective way of communicating that to him. It seems he does not wish to risk hurting any of us, and yet…”

                Logan broke off, shaking his head. “I am quite worried.” He finished quietly.

                Roman huffed his agreement and watched as Virgil used his element to boost himself over Patton’s barriers, quickly avoiding Patton’s block and holding the flat side of the metal to Patton’s neck.

                Logan cleared his throat. “Okay, match end!” He called, worry creasing his eyes.

                “Patton… you know what I’m going to tell you.” Logan said. “You have to work on your offensive.”

Patton nodded, avoiding eye contact.

                “I… I know, I do! It’s just… it’s hard, to have to fight any of you guys.”

                Virgil and Roman both lay a hand on Patton’s shoulder.

                “It’s okay, Pat.” Virgil said quietly. “You’ll get there.”

                “That’s the entire point of this practice!” Roman said. “It’s to help us learn better ways to fight and better ways to defend ourselves!”

                Patton looked up and nodded, smiling.

                Later, the four lay in a field and watched the stars. Patton and Roman excitedly talked not far away.

                While Logan had met Patton first, he found that he was starting to get attached to the peaceful quiet Virgil provided.

                So, while Patton and Roman talked theater not 10 feet away, Logan and Virgil watched the stars and the fireflies that flit around above their heads.

                “Do you know the constellations around here?” Logan asked quietly.

                “No..” Virgil breathed back, eyes trained on the sky.

                “Look straight ahead, at the brightest star right beside the edge of the tree. If you look near it, there are 4 other stars, and 3 of them should form a short of un-equal square.”

                “I can see them.”

                “Directly below the box, if you draw an imaginary line from the right of that box, you have found the entirety of the constellation of Lyra. The last star you found is called Vega.” Logan smiled, his eyes tracing the rest of the constellations in the sky.

                Beside him, Virgil breathed out a quiet, content laugh.

                “Where are the others?” Virgil asked.

                Logan felt something like happiness burst in his chest and had to stop himself from gushing about the constellations and the stars and the mythology behind them all.

                He didn’t want to bore Virgil with that kind of nonsense.

                “Well, if you look above Lyra, you can find Cygnus. Cygnus look a little bit like a bent cross, or a bow and arrow…” Logan trailed off, looking over at Virgil, who was nodding, a slight smile caught on his face as he kept a hand outstretched to trace shapes in the stars.

                “Have you found it?” Logan asked. Virgil nodded again and Logan returned his gaze to the stars. “Do you see the star at the very top? In a real arrow, it would be where the feathers are.”

                “Yup.”

                “That is Denab.”

                “Where’s another?”

                “To the left of Lyra and Cygnus. Think like an isosceles triangle – Altair, a star in the constellation of Aquila, is there. There are two bright stars on either side of Altair…” Logan continued to describe Aquila. At a confused noise from Virgil, Logan scooted closer. He lay his head next to Virgil’s and gently guided Virgil’s hand, connecting the dots, so to say. As he did so, he forgot to control his rambling.

                “Aquila is actually quite fascinating… known as the ‘Eagle of Zeus’ in modern times. This eagle was giant, golden eagle. It served as a messenger to Zeus and a faithful companion. Some even believe that this eagle used to be human. They believe it to have previously been a king, known as Periphas. Periphas was so celebrated as a king that he was came to be shown honor to rival that of a god. And, well, Zeus wasn’t too keen on that, so Zeus decided to smite him.”

                Logan startled when Virgil shifted in the grass, turning on his side to face Logan. Logan flushed red, waving his hands in the air and stumbling through his words as he came back to reality instead of the story in his head.

                “My- uh, my apologies, Virgil. It seems that, I… I’ve rambled quite a bit. I will try harder to control these outbursts in the future.”

                Virgil merely frowned. “What do you mean, Logan?” Virgil asked, brows furrowed. “Why would you need to control anything?”

                Logan returned the frown, one hand still caught anxiously in his hair. “Because… I’m sure you didn’t want to listen to all that… I didn’t mean to bore you.”

                Virgil shook his head. “You don’t have to control anything in the future, Logan.” Virgil said quietly. “If I didn’t want to hear it, I’d say so. I thought it was pretty interesting.”

                Logan stared, uncomprehending.

                “So… in others words…” Virgil offered a shy smile. “I’d like you to continue the story?”

                Logan opened and closed his mouth, shocked, before he smiled, a knot suddenly stuck in his throat. No-one had ever… _wanted_ to listen to him talk.

                Logan cleared his throat and blinked hard. He took in a deep breath and gave a wavering smile. “Ok… yeah. So… Zeus didn’t get to smite Periphas because Apollon intervened. Apollon, instead, turned Periphas into an eagle and placed him beside Zeus’ throne. Zeus interpreted this eagle as a good omen, as it was before the Titan War. He later sent this eagle to fetch Ganymedes so that he could become the cupbearer of the gods. It was later placed beside Lyra, the heavenly vulture, as the constellation Aquila. Speaking of constellations, did you know the history of the word ‘constellation’ because that is also a quite interesting history…”

                Logan and Virgil fell asleep like that, under the stars, telling long stories.

                Virgil let Logan’s voice, rough with sleepiness, lure him to sleep, and Logan followed not long after.          

                Logan had never had anyone willingly, and actively, listen to him before, but with Virgil…

                Every time Logan checked to make sure that he was still listening, he was met with intent eyes and a nod.

                It was… a new feeling. To Logan, it was as if… it felt as though Virgil was the first true friend he’s had.

                Because Virgil listened, because Virgil saw, because Virgil was there and he understood Logan and, hey.

                Logan thought, from their conversations on the road…

                Maybe Virgil felt the same.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, you guys. Oof.

*3 weeks later*

Over the last few weeks, things had progressed in much of the same way. 

Virgil continued to learn of the others’ strange quirks and they had learned of his. Another side effect of this prolonged time together meant that they had developed a sort of routine.

In the mornings, Patton and Logan made breakfast, as they were the only two who woke up naturally early enough. They had shooting practice while they waited, Patton providing Logan with arrows.

After Virgil and Roman had woken, the four ate together. They took a while to chat and relax and then had a short joint practice with all four of them.

After practice was over, Virgil and Roman prepared lunch while Logan and Patton packed up supplies and got them ready for travel. Roman and Virgil also cooked dinner while Patton and Logan relaxed, although occasionally Patton would request to cook and either Virgil or Roman would agree.

After they finished lunch, they left.

That’s where they were now.

Logan always led them, so he stood slightly ahead, Patton talking excitedly at his side while Logan nodded along. Sometimes Virgil would walk beside him, or Roman, but it fell to chance, really.

After a month, they’d gotten pretty close to Senlas, and found that closer they got, the more careful they had to be. Word had gotten around about the disorder of Cerrarin, and Senlas in particular, and ne’er-do-wells from all over had flocked there.

When Logan had come back from a short walk with a frown on his face and news of marauders in the woods, this fact was solidified in their minds. He’d mentioned that these marauders were not working with Omar, but that they were dangerous nonetheless.

Over the past month, they’d covered more ground then Logan had predicted. He’d said that if they kept up the pace, they’d reach Senlas in 2 weeks or so. Which meant they had almost a month and a half to strategize and train. 

A month of being around them and that closeness meant that Virgil had gotten a little bit attached. And, to say the least, it scared the hell out of him.

Present moment, they were walking. Virgil and Roman trailed behind, a comfortable silence between them broken only by Roman’s absent humming and occasional singing.

Up ahead, Virgil heard a short pause and then Logan spoke, voice slightly hesitant.

“Patton, what was it like for you? Before all this happened, I mean?”

Virgil heard Roman’s humming stop from beside him as he tuned in to the conversation as well.

Patton let out a small hum. “Well, my parents are divorced, so I had to switch between houses every so often. That’s where I was going when I got pulled into this, yknow?”

Logan frowned. “So, your dad…”

Patton nodded. “He doesn’t know what happened. Hopefully he doesn’t freak out on Mama. They have a pretty good relationship, despite the divorce, but they’re both kind of protective.”

“Condolences, Patton. Pardon me for asking, but… why did they divorce if they have positive emotions towards each other?”

“It’s ok, Logan, it wasn’t anything big. They just realized that they weren’t good together. They didn’t click, y’know? Funnily enough, they asked for a divorce at the same time. It wasn’t until after it was already done that my mother realized she was pregnant with me.”

“I see. Are they good people?”

“Definitely. Mama makes the best brownies and Papa loves going outside and just fishing or throwing a ball. Very easy going.”

Logan nodded, before inclining his head slightly towards Roman. “What about you?”

Roman grinned. “Mother-dearest is wonderful! She’s been a little rough around the edges since Dad died, but she’s so kind-hearted. We have good times. She’s an air elemental, like you, Logan. Actually, I had a 50/50 chance of being an Air elemental, too.”

“That’s… fascinating, why?”

“I was born late. According to Mom, Dad was freaking out.”

“So you knew your father, then? Were you a close-knit family?”

Roman nodded. “Quite. We used to go out all the time. I was a dramatic child-“

“Never would’ve guessed.” Virgil muttered.

Roman rolled his eyes and continued his sentence. “I was dramatic child, and they’d take me to see performances and they let me participate in the theater program at school.”

“Sounds wonderful, Roman. Did your parent’s divorce, like Patton’s?”

Roman’s smile slipped, and he shrugged again. “He was killed by the serpents. So was Mom.”

Logan frowned as well, reaching a hand back and placing it on Roman’s shoulder.

“But it’s fine! Disbanding the Serpents will be enough closure for me.”

Logan nodded, turning to Virgil.

Virgil spoke before Logan could ask him the same question as the others. “What about you, Logan? How was your life?”

Logan frowned and turned around, focusing his gaze on the trees in front of him. “It was… adequate. Not much to say on it. I was home alone for much of my childhood, as my parents are very busy.”

Patton reached over and laid a careful hand on Logan’s arm.

“Lo… were your parents ever home?” Patton asked gently, forcing the group to stop walking.

Logan shook his head. "Mother has work and often sleeps near it. Father does much of the same. Work requires them to travel often, as well."

“What about when you were sick? Did they take you to the doctor?”

“No.”

“When were they home?”

“Two or three minutes every other month or so.”

“Did they bring food home?”

“I managed. They left some money once I was old enough.”

Roman looked close to tears and both Patton and Virgil looked like they wanted to punch something, or someone, specifically.

“Guys, it’s really not a-“

“Yes, it is!” Roman exclaimed, hands set stubbornly on his hips.

“Lo, you know those are signs of neglect, right?”

Logan crossed his arms. “No, they were just busier than the average parent, that’s all.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Virgil asked softly. “You’re the smartest one here, Logan. You know you’re lying to yourself. It’s ok to accept it. Some people are just… bad.”

Logan seemed to sag, his arms uncrossing and coming up to cover his eyes and his stiff posture slumping. “I don’t know that they’re bad, Virgil. I don’t… I don’t know anything about them.”

Virgil nodded and chose not to say anything more, letting Logan process the information in his mind.

“Well, no matter.” Logan said eventually. Roman looked like he was going to protest but Logan merely lifted a hand. “I will put no more effort in them then they did in me from here on. There are better things in life to look forward to.”

Roman closed his mouth and nodded once, smiling.

Patton laid a gentle hand on Logan’s hand and pulled him into a quick hug before clearing his throat and saying in a chipper voice, “Well, kiddos, lets get a move on, we’re not gettin’ any younger!”

Logan looked confused, turning around and walking anyways. “Of course not, Patton, that’s not how aging works…”

“Figurative language, teach.” Roman put in.

The rest of the day went smoothly, with idle chatter filling the time. Patton somehow convinced them to play a game and, true to his words, they were all soaking wet by the end.

Except for Virgil, and he was glad to keep it that way.

It was while they were all sitting by the fire that Roman brought it up. “Do you think we should do something about the marauders?” he asked. “After all, we’ve been skirting their entire area, which is taking more time. And we have to constantly be on our guard.”

“The marauders are not affiliated with Omar or the Serpents.” Logan reasoned. “Surely we should leave them to the authorities?”

“I don’t know that the authorities would do anything.” Patton said. “They haven’t done anything so far and further then that, would they have time in the aftermath of Omar’s fall?”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Roman said with a gesture towards Patton. “It could also give us practice before we face off against Omar.”

“We shouldn’t, its too reckless.” Virgil protested.

“There are four of us, Virgil, whatever do you mean?” Roman countered.

“We only started practicing a little over a month ago, and we’ve never fought together as a group, and you think we can take on a group that fights for a living?”

“Yes, Virgil, I do. We’ve practiced for a month, and never against someone that wasn’t a friend. This would be a chance to do that.”

“There’s a thousand and one things that could go wrong!”

“Yeah, and a thousand and one that could go right!”

Virgil scoffed. “Honestly, Roman. What are the chances that everything is just going to spin in our favor?”

“Look, Nelly, its fine. The entire world isn’t against us. What’s the worst that could happen, really?”

Virgil didn’t reply, merely turning on his side and ignoring Roman.

He felt more than saw Patton lay down next to him. He could hear Roman and Logan discussing strategies not far away.

Patton tapped a steady rhythm onto Virgil’s back and Virgil mumbled a thank you before sleep claimed him.

\---

The next day, routine was broken.

Roman and Logan were cooking breakfast as Patton sat on the side and watched, adding his own tidbits to the conversation.

Of course, Virgil had been awake, but that meant having to face Roman, and judging by the anxiety rolling in his chest, that was something he wanted to avoid for as long as possible.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get to avoid it for long as a hand shook him softly.

“C’mon, Virge.” Patton said. “I know you’re not supportive of this, but listen to Logan and Roman’s plan and we’ll at least have a plan, yeah?”

Virgil looked up at him and sighed in resignation. “I suppose…”

“That’s the spirit, sorta!”

Virgil shrugged and turned to Logan. “So, what’s this plan then?”

Virgil ate as Logan explained, trying to hide the shakiness of his hands.

“We won’t be looking for a fight,” Logan concluded, “But we won’t be going out of our way to avoid one like we have been.”

Virgil shrugged, keeping his gaze on the ground.

Here goes.

They set out after having a short joint practice, and Virgil couldn’t help but feel an unsettling vibe from the forest, despite it being the same one they’d been traveling for the past month. Evidently Logan felt it too, as two and a half hours into the walk, they’d exchanged an uneasy glance and come to a stop. Virgil subtly pulled his daggers from their spot in his hoodie pocket and hid them in his sleeves. Patton passed Logan several arrows and Roman placed an idle hand on the hilt of his sword.

There was seemingly no signal to start the attack. Just that suddenly, 5 dark figures melted out of the shadows and wasted no time attacking. Three went after Virgil, Patton, and Logan, and two branched off towards Roman.

While there was only a one-person difference, it was enough to make a difference.

Virgil didn’t have time to observe any more than that because before he had time to react, the marauder in front of Virgil had used his element to spray sand into Virgil’s eyes.

Disoriented, Virgil could only pull up a weak defense of rather thin ice, which did nothing against the heavy boulder flung through it. Virgil lunged to the side, but couldn’t avoid getting clipped on the shoulder. Virgil cried out as he was thrown into the dirt.

He took a quick second to cleanse his eyes with a quick spray of water.

He stood up just in time to avoid a sharp, heavy rock to the head. He sent a torrent of water towards the man, knocking him over, and followed up by throwing the dagger in his left hand.

Virgil heard the low thud as his knife met its mark. He swallowed thickly and turned his head away as he grabbed his knife. He can’t dwell on it long, however, as a shout from Roman sends shards of ice through his heart.

Virgil spun around. To his right, Patton and Logan were well on their way to winning their battle against two of the other marauders, tag-teaming them well. Not far in front of him, however, Roman wasn’t faring too well in his two-against-one match.

As Virgil watched, Roman’s attacker dodged a spray of flames, and used his own air element to knock Roman onto the ground.

Roman struggled back to his feet, but not before getting his arms pinned behind his back and restrained by the bandit’s friend.

Virgil felt his heart stop in his chest before skyrocketing. He took one step, then two, towards Roman until he was full-on sprinting. The man in front of Roman had his weapon outstretched, was bringing it down…

Virgil jumped.

There was a loud band, the swift sound of an arrow flying past Virgil’s head. A gasp from behind him. As Virgil watched, his vision suspiciously hazy, the bandit fell, dead, with a matching thud from somewhere behind him.

Virgil forced his body to turn around, hands trembling, and threw his arms around Roman.

“Virgil…”

“A thousand things could go wrong.” Virgil whispered. “I thought you were gonna die.”

“I’m not the one you should be worried about, Virge…” Roman said in a choked voice.

Virgil merely shrugged, the pain hitting him full force as his vision faded to black.

As his arms went lax around Roman and he felt his body start to fall, he could only think…

At least Roman was okay.

\----

POV change

Roman ground his teeth as he sat beside Virgil. The other lay on his back on top of a make-shift bed Patton had created. Virgil’s breathing was shallow and the bandages around his middle were stained with red.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid.” Roman muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair for the umpteenth time.

It had been 3 days since the fight with the marauders.

Logan had immediately begun putting pressure on the wound, calmly reciting to Patton what supplies from the emergency medical pack he needed. Roman had done little more then stare uncomprehendingly. Virgil lay, unresponsive, on the ground where Roman had placed him after catching him. His blood had soaked into Roman’s shirt and into the dirt on the ground around him. Logan had gone to find a stream that night to wash the blood on his hands off. While elementals in Cerrarin healed faster than normal, there was no way to heal someone who’s bled out, and they had to have proper treatment to avoid infections.

Logan had constantly assured them that Virgil was going to be okay in no time at all, but Roman couldn’t help but be swamped by guilt.

He was the one who had suggested they go straight through the danger zone, and had ignored Virgil’s concerns.

He was the one who’d been too weak to handle the bandits.

Virgil hadn’t even wanted to fight! And yet, he was the one who’d gotten most injured.

Logan and Patton both had minor scrapes, equivalent to cat scratches.

Roman had several more serious injuries but they weren’t life threatening in any sense of the word. He had bruises, scrapes, and cuts but nothing serious. His worst injury was a deep cut on his side. Virgil, on the other hand…

According to Logan, he just had to wait, but waiting was an almost impossible task, it seemed.

In the month he’d known Virgil, Roman had… fallen for him. It seemed impossible as well, but it was true. Roman had fallen for him, and for Logan and Patton as well. It was confusing and a little scary, and Roman wasn’t sure how to approach it.

But Virgil was hurt, and he was hurt saving Roman.

Roman scoffed, his hand reaching for Virgil’s and grabbing it loosely.

“Oh, darling… I’m supposed to be the prince here, don’t you know?”

Roman traced one of his fingers over the scars on Virgil’s body. Some were old, some newer.

Logan and Patton had looked pale when they saw them and the still-fading bruises. Remembering the other bruises that had been on his face when the group had just met and his unwillingness to speak about his home life, well…

The signs added up.

Roman was ripped out of thoughts by Virgil’s hand tightening around his hand, and his eyes flew up to meet Virgil’s.

“Hey, Princey.” Virgil said, voice scratchy.

Roman felt tears welling up and then without warning he was crying, bent over with his hands covering his eyes. He felt Virgil’s arm around him and let himself be pulled into a gentle hug. Virgil rubbed comforting circles into his back.

“Don’t you- “ Roman cut off, his voice trapped in his throat. “Don’t you ever do that again, okay?”

Virgil offered a small smile and nodded. “Yeah, yeah.”

Roman looked up, leaning back slightly. “You’d be a terrible first love if I never even got to confess.”

Roman watched as Virgil’s eyes blew wide.

“What-What are you- “

“I’m serious.” Roman said, grabbing Virgil’s hand.

Virgil didn’t say anything for a long moment, searching his eyes for a lie.

Then, he blinked, looking away as a light blush appeared on his cheeks. “Then, maybe… I might like you, too.”

Roman smiled, relief sweeping through him.

From behind him, there was a short clearing of the throat and Virgil and Roman looked over simultaneously. Logan and Patton stood side-by-side. Logan was straightening his already perfectly positioned glasses and Patton had his hands clasped together in front of him.

“Well, this might be a bit much, but… both me and Logan have confessed that we were in love with you two as well as each other and wondered if… uh…”

“If you two reciprocated those feelings?”

Virgil exchanged a glance with Roman and let out a small laugh. “Ow, ow… yeah, I do.”

Roman nodded emphatically beside him.

“Well, that’s a relief!” Patton burst out, grinning.

Roman returned the grin, feeling a weight left off his shoulders.

“Nothing like a near-death experience to bring people together, huh?” Virgil quipped.

They all laughed and rested in easy silence for a few minutes before Logan spoke.

“Just one question.” He said hesitantly, looking apologetic. “Where’d you get these scars?”

 


	6. Chapter 6

Virgil froze.

The scars, the mostly-healed bruises.

As he looked between the other three, his breath caught in his chest.

They knew, they had to, they were only asking as a formality.

“I… um. They’ve been there since before we left.” Virgil said, stumbling over his words.

“You had a bruise on your face when we first met.” Roman said softly. “Where did it come from?”

Virgil shook his head, his breath shuttering in his chest. He felt someone grab his hand.

“Easy, Virge. It’s okay, we don’t mean to pressure you into anything you don’t want to tell us.” Patton said. “Just breathe with me, okay?”

Virgil nodded, gripping Patton’s hand, his other still held by Roman.

He felt Logan’s hand in his hair, stroking softly. After a few minutes, he closed his eyes and took a bracing breath.

“I’ll tell you. I want to tell you, I trust you, but…”

“We’ll listen for as long as you need, Virgil.” Roman said earnestly, squeezing Virgil’s hand.

Virgil nodded. “They… the scars and the bruise you saw, Roman… They’re from my… my parents.”

Virgil felt Patton’s grip on his hand tighten and he couldn’t bring himself to open his eyes.

“They don’t have reason, other than the fact that I’m just a terrible child. Dad is usually drunk but Mom… she’s sober when she does it. When I was walking, Patton, it was because she’d locked me out of the house. She was… hitting me, and I tried to get away and when I got out she slammed the door and locked it. There was nowhere to go, so I just walked.”

There was a sniffle and Virgil tentatively opened his eyes. Patton was bawling, and even Logan had a few tears trailing down his cheeks, but he, as well as Roman, seemed more angry than anything.

“Is that why you know how to fight, Virgil?” Logan asked, his voice cracking. “That’s why you have the knife?”

Virgil nodded shakily. “I don’t have any other defense against them.”

Before Virgil even realized what was happening, he felt the dam holding back his own tears crack, and suddenly tears were trickling down his face. “I’m so… I’m scared, Logan.” He said, looking over. “After Omar is gone, where am I gonna go? I bet they haven’t even noticed that I’m gone.”

“Virge, I’m not letting you go back there.” Roman said, determined. “None of us are.”

“Virgil... Virgil can I hug you?” Patton cried, tears still wet on his cheeks.

Virgil, desperately wiping his own tears on his arm, nodded.

Patton immediately scooped Virgil up, minding his injury, and Virgil didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around Patton in return. Roman and Logan were quick to join in.

After a while, they let go.

“Um, Virgil, if it would suit you… If all else fails, would you like to join me when this all over? My home is big enough for us both, as my parents rarely return.”

“You’d be… you’d want me there?”

Logan blushed, pushing his glasses up his nose and smiling softly at Virgil. “Yes. It would be… really, really nice.”

Virgil smiled back, nodding. “Thank you… all of you.”

He was engulfed in a group hug again and smiled.

Having it out there felt like a huge weight lifted from his shoulders.

He laughed again, wincing. “I’m so glad it was you guys who got tangled up in all this.”

“Me too, kiddo. Me too.”

\--

The next several weeks were, admittedly, rough.

It was hard to go out and do much with so little maneuverability. Virgil could hardly sit up on his own, and while the others continued training, he could only offer tips.

And Patton was still struggling with the offensive. Virgil had been critiquing the others, as he could do little else.

“Patton,” He called, as he lost his match against Logan. “You’re afraid of harming us, right?”

Patton nodded sheepishly, walking over. “Yeah. I’m sorry, but I just…”

Virgil shrugged. “That’s okay. Can we try something?” He asked.

Patton nodded. “Why not?”

Virgil smiled. “Can you form a gun out of rock to hold instead of your gun?”

Patton’s face lit up, and he nodded enthusiastically, already raising a hand.

“Sweet. Make it as similar in weight and texture to your actual gun as possible.”

Patton nodded, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tweaked a few things on the stone gun he held.

“Have a match with Ro. Remember: Offensive!” Virgil teased, tilting his head towards Roman.

Patton nodded energetically. “Got it! Virgil, you’re great!”

“We don’t know if it’ll work yet…” Virgil muttered, blushing.

Patton waved him off as he and Roman faced off in the clearing.

Logan sat next to him as the fight begun.

“Very astute, Virgil.” He praised.

Virgil nudged him gently with his shoulder. “Yeah, well…”

Logan smiled, taking Virgil’s hand as they watched together.

“It seems to be helping. Hopefully he’ll be able to use the gun in an actual battle.”

“He used it in the fight with the bandits, didn’t he?”

“Yes. However, both you and Roman were in danger then.”

Virgil hummed. It was true enough, but he had a feeling Patton would be okay.

Healing from an injury, he found, was very boring business. If he didn’t have the accelerated healing of an elemental, Virgil figured he’d have died from boredom.

Or the injury. That was also a possibility.

Thankfully, he did have that accelerated healing. As such, he was up and moving in no time.

And so, he and the others set out for Senlas.

They were a lot closer now that they were together. Virgil and Roman exchanged quiet kisses at the tail of the group and Patton became even more affectionate than before, cuddling up to the others at night - not that they minded - and being generally supportive. Logan showed his affection in less obvious ways, like making sure they were all okay, and sitting close to the others and just enjoying their presence. Roman was extravagant, the kind to literally sweep you off your feet and initiate impromptu dances in the middle of the clearing.

Virgil loved it. He was happier than he could ever remember being.

In no time, they reached Senlas. Senlas was much, much bigger than their hometown. Where the small town Virgil and the others was homely and warm, the city of Senlas was huge and bustling.

It was big, which meant that it was definitely a good thing that they had arrived early.

They entered the city as a group.

“How are we doing this?” Roman asked, scanning the streets.

“We need to formulate a route. So… we need to identify Omar, and find his route. We need to familiarize ourselves with this city. After a week or so, we’ll form a plan.” Logan said.

Patton smiled. “Where are we meeting?”

“Back here, I’d say.” Virgil sighed. “Right?”

Logan nodded. “At around 3pm, meet back here. We’ll go in pairs so as not to get lost alone.”

“I was with Virge last time… Lo, looks like you’re with me!” Patton said cheerily.

Logan smiled. “Seems so.”

Virgil and Roman high fived. “We’ll see you guys at 3, then, okay?” Virgil asked.

“Yup! We’ll  _ three  _ you later!” Patton exclaimed.

“Not your best, Pat. Valiant attempt.” Roman teased, smiling softly.

Patton shrugged. “Well, they can’t all be winners.”

Roman grinned before they both turned and started walking.

“What do you think we should focus on?” Virgil asked.

“We need to identify Omar. Maybe we can ask the citizens?”

“Wouldn’t that be a little suspicious? What if one of them reports back to Omar?”

“You’re right… What can we do?”

Virgil was silent for a second, observing the city around him. People walked briskly on the sidewalks and the sun barely reached him through the towering buildings.

“We could find the square. Even a city like this will have one, it’s a Cerrarin thing.”

Roman nodded. “Okay. Maybe we’ll spot him on the way there.”

After going down three alleyways and the wrong direction four times, Roman and Virgil reached the square. It was… practically deserted.

Virgil tenses up, grabbing Roman’s hand. For a city as active as this, the square’s activity, or rather lack thereof, was… disconcerting. The blood that was still visible on the ground in places didn’t help the image.

In the middle, a large poster was set up. On it there was a face with a large declaration of “Omar Kinefer.”

Virgil huffed a laugh despite the tense air that had fallen. “That was easier than I thought it would be.”

Roman hummed in agreement. “Can you take a picture of it?”

Virgil nodded, snapping a picture and turning. “Well, guess we should figure out the streets of this city…”

“Yeah. We’ve got a few hours. We might as well.”

Virgil and Roman set off. They spent the last few hours exploring the city’s streets and alleys and finding all the secret routes.

When they got back, Logan looked shaken and Patton was fussing over him.

Roman and Virgil were immediately by him. Virgil held both Logan’s hands as Roman crouched beside him.

“What happened?”

“We almost got caught.” Patton said, his voice shaking. “Or, rather, Logan almost got caught.”

“How?” Virgil asked.

“There were serpents doing a patrol on our side of the city. Everyone in this city has an ID, saying who they are and their place of birth. Logan and I made a run for it when we realized but we didn’t know the city and there was a dead end.”

Virgil heard Roman suck in a breath as Patton paused.

“There was a chain-link fence and before I could do anything, Logan just used his element to lift me over the fence and push me away, but he was still over on the other side and I just…” Patton swallowed nervously. “One of them had a gun. I just barely got a wall up in time. Lo almost died and I…”

Virgil looked up at Patton and watched as Roman tugged him into a tight hug. Virgil did the same to Logan, feeling the other’s hand come up and squeeze hesitantly at first, and then tightly all at once. Virgil hugged back just as tightly. To think that Logan and Patton were in danger, and Virgil hadn’t even known.

They stayed like that for a while, just recovering their wits and giving themselves a moment to come to terms with reality.

This was a dangerous game, and they had no choice but to play.

That night, they came up with a plan. Rousing as little suspicion as possible, the four would find Ophiuchus’ route out of the city and gain allies in the city.

By the end of the week, they had a plan, and they knew the city like the back of their hand.

“The three-month mark is a couple weeks from now. I’ve formulated a plan, but I would like your input and the chance to practice without action for the remaining weeks.” Logan said.

“Go for it, Padre.” Roman said, smiling.

Logan rolled his eyes affectionately. “Roman, you’ll be on lookout for Omar’s departure. You can signal this to us with a double flicker of your flames.”

Roman lifted his hand and let flames sprout twice in succession. “Like this?”

Logan nodded. “Exactly. You’ll tail him, and then, once he reaches the area outside the square, we’ll attack.”

“The square was deserted, though.” Virgil said. “Nobody will see it there.”

“The square might be deserted, however the area outside gets gradually more populated. We’ll strike in a place where there is an optimum amount of people. Roman, I’d say to strike at the tattoo shop.”

Roman nodded. “Got it, Lo.”

“Virgil, you will be waiting not far away in one of the alleys. Patton and I will strike first. We have long-distance weapons that will be better to establish an advantage. We will attempt to incapacitate him to a degree so that you, Roman, and you, Virgil, will be able to come in and attempt to speak to him without outside influence in a less risky environment. If he happens to comply, we will report him to the nearest safety official and leave him in their hands. If he does not, we…” Logan trailed off, looking down at his hands. “We will do what we must.”

“Lo…” Patton said, scooting closer and giving him a one-armed hug. “If it comes to that, we all have each other. If it was him or you guys… I’d choose you guys every time. And once we start fighting, I don’t think he’d let us go peacefully.”

Roman nodded in agreement, grasping Virgil’s hand.

Logan nodded, taking in a deep breath. “Thank you.”

Roman smiled gently at Logan. “Is there more?”

Logan nodded. “In this scenario, Roman, Virgil, you two will be fighting against him alone until Patton and I can reach you from our vantage point. This could be dangerous so just… watch out for each other, okay?”

Roman and Virgil exchange a glance, and smiled.

“I’ve already sacrificed myself for him once, you think I’m gonna change my mind now?” Virgil asked.

Roman frowned and nudged him gently. “Don’t you talk like that. If you do something like that this time I will- “

“Will what?” Virgil teased.

“I will scold you with love and baby you the rest of your life.”

Virgil shuddered. “Truly terrifying.”

Logan smiled fondly at their antics. “Please, no dying for each other. I like you guys too much to lose either one of you.”

Roman “aww”’d at him, and Logan continued on as if nothing had happened. “When Omar has been… well, dealt with, one way or another, we will rally the public to bring back the peace of Cerrarin. Seeing as how they’ve been terrorized for the past few years, they should be willing enough. At this point, we can go to the government, and force them to retain order.”

Virgil smiled at Logan. “You’re amazing, Lo.”

Logan flushed, looking to the side. “Sure, sure.”

“I mean it. You’re amazing, Logan. Truly amazing. Without you, who knows where we’d be?”

Patton and Roman chimed in with their agreement and Logan gave in, smiling at them. “I’m not good with emotions, but I think I’m in love with you three.”

“The feeling’s mutual, pal.” Virgil drawled, leaning his head on Roman’s shoulder.

Patton pulled Logan in for a tight hug.

“And after all of that?” Patton asked.

“Well… it would please me if we could find a place to settle… together. I personally have no attachment to home, as you know, and neither does Virgil or Roman, I assume. I know you might like to remain close to family, Patton, so we could find a place near there?”

Patton gave them a bright grin. “Nothing would make me happier!”

Logan smiled, relieved.

Time to prepare.

Logan could only hope for a happy ending to his own personal fairytale.

\--

Roman watched the form inside the building intently. There could be no mistakes today. Today, there were no do-overs.

The clock chimed as the hands settled.

It was 12:00. 

Omar would be on his way any moment.

Roman watched as the figure left the house. He raised his hand, letting flames spring up in his hands twice.

He jumped from his perch and began tailing Omar. He looked young. His skin was pale, with closely-cropped blonde hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His eyes were a dull green, like fish eyes, and he walked as though he owned the world.

All in all, Roman thought he was a creep.

Roman stuck to the shadows and the alleys and the secret cuts he’d discovered until he reached the wide street with the tattoo parlor.

Unlike the square, which was as ominously silent as ever, the street had several people wandering to and fro. When they saw Omar, most edged closer to the buildings. While Roman couldn’t hear Logan’s bow, he did hear the distant bang of Patton’s gun and saw Omar fall suddenly. Roman made eye contact with Virgil, who was peeking out of an alley a few yards down, and quickly ran towards Omar.

Virgil reached him first, and quickly grabbed the man’s arms and held them behind his back, while Roman took over the speaking part.

“Hello.” Roman said, a pleasant smile on his face. “My name is Roman. I would say it’s a pleasure to meet you but it’s really not.”

“Ro!” Virgil scolded from behind Omar.

“What? He’s an evil mastermind, you want me to treat him like my long-lost brother or something?”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Just get on with it, Princey.”

Roman smirked before focusing on Omar, who was looking at him incredulously.

“So, you’re probably wondering why we’ve gathered you here today.”

“Roman.”

“Sorry. Anyways, we wanted to know if you could kindly stop killing people.”

Omar scoffed. “Are you shitting me right now?”

Roman frowned. “Language, young man.”

“Look, kid, I don’t know what you think you’re up to, but you’re in over your head. Back off, go home to mommy.”

Roman narrowed his eyes and the air around him went cold as ice. “Here’s the thing, Omar.” He said, taking a step forward. His entire body was coiled tight, his eyes bitingly cold. “I can’t do that. Y’know why? My mother was killed by your ‘serpents’. You  _ will _ stop this and disband your organization. I’m not giving you a choice.”

“That’s funny.” Omar said, arrogance rolling off him in waves. “Because last I checked, you’re just a wimpy teenager. I’m an adult male. You don’t stand a chance.”

Roman laughed, his cold air never receding. “I think you’re forgetting the position you’re in, Omar.”

Omar smirked. He threw his head back into Virgil’s head, narrowly missing. However, Virgil’s grip was loosened as he dodged, and Omar used that slip to break free, pushing Virgil to the ground and raising a foot to kick his head.

Before he could, Roman ran forward and tackled him, conjuring fire to his hands and gripping Omar’s wrists. Omar let out a screech of pain and broke one fist free, getting in a hit on Roman and sending him reeling.

By that time, Virgil was up and moving, one knife in his hand, and he came at Omar from the back.

Omar blocked the knife with one hand, kicking out a foot to try and knock Virgil over. Once Virgil was on the ground, Roman saw Omar move to pull out his own blade.

As soon as he turned around however, Roman was mid-swing.

Roman cursed as Omar ducked the blade, but then Virgil was there, and they were tag-teaming him. Virgil used his element to knock Omar over and Roman sprung forward, missing his target but catching Omar’s arm instead.

Omar raised his good arm and threw the dagger he’d retrieved at Roman, but before it could meet it’s mark, a wall of stone shot up in front of Roman, the metal of the knife clanging against the street.

Patton and Logan were there.

Roman glared at Omar. He was responsible for so much death, so much chaos… and all for what?

Nothing was worth the life of so many people.

Roman nodded at Logan as he passed, and they, along with Patton and Virgil, advanced towards Omar.

They out-numbered him four to one.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous.

Roman watched, as if in slow motion, as Omar got to his feet and leaped at Patton, jumping clumsily over the ice Virgil tried to trip him with, watched as Patton fell hard, his eyes falling shut and his body going limp as his head came down on a sharp rock at the edge of the road.

And then he felt a mixture of panic and anger rush inside him and he tackled Omar again, off Patton. He recognized Logan’s presence beside him and he heard Logan’s stifled cry of pain as Omar stabbed his knife into Logan’s arm.

As Omar withdrew is knife again, Roman ripped the blade out of Omar’s hand and lifted it, but then, a hand on his arm stopped him.

“Roman. If you do it, do it with a clear mind.” Logan said softly, keeping a hold on Roman’s free hand.

Roman took a deep breath and nodded.

“Omar. You’ve killed hundreds, possibly thousands. I guess you get to pay with your life.”

With Logan by his side, Roman brought the knife down. Omar’s death was as quick as Roman could make it. Despite his anger towards the guy, taking a life was sickening enough as is.

Roman dropped the knife as if it had burned him. He turned to Logan, his eyes wide and frightened.

“Logan, I… I just…”

Logan merely pulled Roman into a tight hug.

“Yeah, you did. You’re the hero, today. You’re very brave.”

“I don’t feel like a hero.” Roman said, voice shaky.

“No.” Logan whispered, hand curling gently in Roman’s hair. “That’s rarely the case.”

Roman shuddered. “I love you.”

Roman felt it as Logan began shaking. “God, Roman… I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Clarity returned to Roman with an ice cold shock. “Patton. He… “

“Virgil has him, no need to worry.” Logan soothed, running his hand up and down Roman’s back.

Roman felt relief weigh over him, sagging in Logan’s grip.

“Can we…?”

“Yes. C’mon, he’s awake already.”

Roman swallowed. Patton could’ve been… seriously injured. He could’ve been killed.

Roman dropped to his knees beside Patton, who was still laying on his back where he’d fallen. Virgil was crouched on his other side, holding Patton’s hand. He gave Roman a weary smile as Roman grabbed Patton’s free hand.

“Pat, I thought, I thought…” Roman choked up. He could see tear tracks on Virgil’s face, and saw he and Logan grab each other in a desperate hug, but all Roman could think of was the way Patton’s body had gone limp when his head made contact with the street. “I thought I’d lost you.”

Roman watched as Patton reached up with his free hand, brushing Roman’s tears away. “I’m okay, Roman. Thank you.”

Roman engulfed Patton in a tight hug, and then he was laughing. Virgil and Logan glanced over from where they were sitting, as close as humanly possible. “We made it!” He exclaimed giddily. “We did it, and we’re all alive and I just love you all so much and…” Roman sniffled, a bright grin on his face even as tears continued to trickle down his face.

Virgil and Logan helped Patton to sit up, happy, hopeful smiles on their faces. Everything was okay. Yeah, it would be a rocky road to get the stable, peaceful world they’d enjoyed before and some things would never be okay but…

But they had each other, and in Roman’s opinion… Well, that was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it. A bad end for a bad fic :)
> 
> I'm sorry this took so long to come out i just had 0 motivation but it's here and now you dont have to deal with my bad schedule so yaaaayyy
> 
> Have a nice life everyone! 
> 
> Feel free to ask questions in the comments, and if enough people want an epilogue, i might write a chapter 7.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have questions, feel free to ask in the comments!


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